Looking for any suggestions or recommendations for the best hikes in and around Denali, as well as S of Anchorage along the coast. Will be going this summer for a few days in the park, and few days around Kenai/Homer/Seward area.In a quick search I noticed kenugi ridge and lost lake trail by Seward, as well as the NPS hikes listed within the park.

Any adventure, scenery or 'must do' ideas welcome PS- I'm not a technical or snow/ice climber, so Denali is out of the quetsion!

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. -Abe Lincoln

The best are:Kesugi Ridge in Denali State Park. If the weather is good, you get spectacular views of Denali (note: weather is usually not that good) Exit Glacier and the Harding Ice Field outside of Seward.Kenai Fords Cruise - Whales, seals, sea otters, tons of birds... Alaska Sealife Center - In case you didn't get to see the aforementioned animal life on the cruise. I'm still sorting through my hundreds of photos from here

"Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games."- Ernest Hemingway (or was it Barnaby Conrad?)

Your knees only get so many bumps in life, don't waste them on moguls!

There aren't a whole lot of trails in Denali except near the visitor center. You pretty much tell the bus driver where you want to get off, then spend a few hours walking around, then wait for the next bus that has seating.

Wow- thanks Otina!Looks like Healy was the only other hike you've done in Denali- was that mt a very scenic hike?Have you heard anything on lost lake/primrose trail? I wanted to try that one based on this photo alone!

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Def try some of these... Appreciate the multitude of excellent input!

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. -Abe Lincoln

Homer is fantastic! I worked there four days last spring and had a blast in town and in the surrounding area. Highly recommend a kayak trip through Kachemak Bay State Park, either as a day trip or as a multi-day yurt tour. Here's a vid (not mine) that gives you a look at the area by paddle:

I saw >100 bald eagles a day. If you use the outhouse on the Homer Spit, look up:

The Mt Healy Overlook hike was reasonably scenic. It was one of the first hikes I did in the state, ~2003. So all my photos are film, and I'm not sure where they are just yet. So I found some from my friend Alex, when we did it. I wish we could have gone all the way to the summit, as the views probably would have been better.

I didn't do many hikes in Denali NP due to the hoops one had to jump through with permits and buses. But as we (AEIC) had a seismic station at Kantishna, Thouroughfare and Purkypile, as well as a helicorder at the Eielson Visitor Center, we got special permits to drive the road before the park was open (as well as fly in and around). Plus locals know when they open the road to mile ~30, and the rest to bikes at the beginning and end of the season, so I did more of that than hiking. That area of the state can be a swamp infested with the state bird - mosquitoes, so most locals hiked elsewhere. Especially seeing what happened to some soaked hikers that wanted to get on the bus, but there was only room for them or their gear, not both. So they were grateful that we had that permit to drive, and could take their gear to the visitor center. It's all off trail hiking outside of the entrance area, which can turn into a nasty bushwhack pretty quickly.

Haven't heard of the lost lake/primrose trail, but it may be in one of my books. I'll see if I can find it tonight.

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Healy Overlook SW (Denali - center)

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Healy Overlook SE

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"Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games."- Ernest Hemingway (or was it Barnaby Conrad?)

Your knees only get so many bumps in life, don't waste them on moguls!

"Exit Glacier" is a dwindling glacier north of Seward. It seems to have become more "officially maintained" with formal trails and "stay off" signs.

One trip I investigated the "Stampede Trail" of Into the Wild fame. Its just north of Denali. There are scattered summer cabins like you might on Colorado backroads. The scenery is more interesting in the park.

The thing I liked about Alaska car-camping is there were campgrounds everyone, including in the middle of town. Some nice ones right on the beach in Seward and Homer.

I was in the Kenai/Chugach areas last August and visited some of the more "classic" areas that people above have mentioned, along with some others. Below are links to my reports from that trip. I ran a race along the length of the Lost Lake trail, and that is a spectacular trail/area. I didn't get any pictures from that area since I was racing, but for all the other areas I visited I got plenty of pictures. Everything up there is spectacular, but individual experience is largely influenced by weather conditions. My favorite outing was Pioneer Peak - a 6000' peak near Palmer, but that was largely because I had fantastic weather and was able to catch great views of Denali from the summit.